By George Glover

Centene Corp. stock was plunging in premarket trading on Wednesday after the health insurance marketplace provider pulled its 2025 guidance, the latest bit of bad news for a sector that's been battered by ballooning medical costs.

Shares slumped 27% to $41.13 ahead of the opening bell. Futures tracking the S&P 500 were a touch higher.

Centene is a managed-care specialist focused on Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act insurance marketplaces. It said late Tuesday that preliminary data for 22 of its 29 marketplace states signaled that fewer customers than expected were enrolling in its plans, and those that have signed up were more likely to have health problems than previously forecast.

As a result, Centene expects a shortfall of $1.8 billion, which equates to a $2.75 a share hit to adjusted earnings. Analysts had been expecting full-year adjusted earnings of $7.28 a share, per a FactSet poll.

Centene withdrawing guidance is the latest development of a rough 2025 for health insurers, which are struggling to cope with surging healthcare costs. Shares in UnitedHealth Group tanked in May after the company pulled its own guidance, citing higher costs in its Medicare Advantage business. UnitedHealth also announced the departure of its CEO Andrew Witty due to personal reasons.

Shares in other health insurers were also falling Wednesday. Molina Healthcare sank 9% and Elevance Health dropped 3.7% in premarket trading.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com

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July 02, 2025 07:09 ET (11:09 GMT)

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